The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has said that former President Muhammadu Buhari could not have won the 2015 presidential election without the vital backing of Tinubu and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Speaking in an interview on Arise TV on Thursday night, Onanuga rejected recent remarks by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, who claimed the merger that led to the creation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013 only added about three million votes to Buhari’s total. The APC was formed through the merger of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP). Mustapha, on Wednesday, argued that Buhari already enjoyed a steady support base of over 12 million votes prior to the merger, suggesting the CPC’s alliance with ACN and ANPP had limited impact on his eventual victory over former President Goodluck Jonathan. Onanuga, however, disagreed, explaining that although Buhari had significant support in the North, he lacked the national reach needed to secure the presidency on his own. He noted that Buhari, despite his millions of votes, had virtually no presence in the South and relied on the ACN to achieve the “spread” necessary to win. According to Onanuga, the ACN delivered the crucial votes from the South that secured Buhari’s victory. “It was clear to ACN, a very strategic arm of that alliance, that without additional support, there was no way Buhari could have won the election. “Yeah, he was getting 12 million votes if you put all the 19 states together, but in the south, Buhari was nowhere. Buhari needed the spread. ACN had six. “Buhari got the votes he needed in those six states. They may not be in millions, but there were important votes. “He won in all those six states, and he got more than 25 per cent. At the end of the day, he won in about 25 states, more than the constitutional requirement of 24 states,” he said. Onanuga further stressed that the former president remained grateful for Tinubu’s role in making the 2015 victory possible. He said, “Buhari never forgot the help that Tinubu rendered to him. He wouldn’t have become president without Tinubu’s assistance.”